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Sunday, 25 February 2007

Low-Fat Orange Yogurt Cake

I am always skeptical when it comes to low-fat desserts and bakes. I really doubt they will taste as good. However, after the feasting and binging on Chinese New Year food and goodies, it's time that I try making something that's low-fat. Earlier this week, I made curry chicken with low-fat milk, after hearing good reviews from my friend. Indeed, the curry tasted as good, except that I missed the sweet aroma from the coconut milk.

I made a "loaf" of low-fat orange cake last night. I adapted a Cranberry Pecan Cake recipe from Alice Medrich's Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts. As I just needed a simple cake, I omitted the cranberry and pecan, as well as the frosting. I used a wooden spoon instead of an electric mixer as I was too lazy to do the cleaning up. Although, on hind sight, I should have use a manual whisk instead. I think it would be easier to whisk the butter and sugar with it as it took me a quite a while to cream the butter mixture till pale & fluffy with the wooden spoon :(

The cake is meant to be baked in an 8-cup tube pan, since I don't have such kind of pan, I used a disposable foil loaf pan. Fortunately, the cake turned out to be very soft and light, unlike those moist and dense pound cake or butter cake. I believe the use of cake flour and yogurt helps to give the cake such a soft texture. This is meant to be a low-fat cake, but I think the sugar ought to be reduced further by at least 20 to 30%, I still find it a tad too sweet for me!

With an electric mixer, beat butter and orange zest for 1 min. Add in sugar and beat on high speed for about 3 mins.

Add in eggs gradually, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beat constantly for about 2 mins.

On low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. On medium-high speed, beat in 1/2 of the yogurt mixture. On low speed, beat in half of the remaining flour mixture. On high speed, beat in the remaining yogurt mixture. On low speed, beat in the rest of the flour mixture.

Scrape into prepared pan and bake for 45 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Method:Preheat oven to 175º C (fan forced). Grease and flour 2 small (17.0 cm x 7.5 cm bottom measurement) loaf pans, or spray and line tins with baking paper.In a bowl, beat together melted butter, yoghurt, sugar, juice, rind vanilla essence and eggs.Stir in chopped dried fruit.Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda onto the wet ingredients and fold in till well combined. Do not over mix.Scrape into prepared pans and bake on the centre shelf of oven for about 35’ or until cakes pull away from edges of pan and a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.If tops of cakes darken too much before they are cooked, cover with a sheet of baking paper.Leave to stand in tins for 5’ before turning out onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Hi! Thanks for sharing this lovely and fool-proof recipe with us. I baked the loaf this afternoon with lemon instead of orange and some nuts thrown in.. absolutely delicious. I couldn't get the fluffy n creamy texture with butter n sugar even though I used an electric whisk. But that part didn't let me down. I would bake this again with a flavoured yogurt.

i have actually decided to bake the french yougurt cake then i saw this recipe and now i have changed my mind...mainly because the yogurt i have is non fat so i think it is more suitable for this recipe. anyway, can i check with you whether it is okay to bake this in cupcake form? also, is it alright to add some dried cranberries?thksoctopusmum

Hi Octopusmum, I don't see any problem baking this in cupcake form, and yes, u can add in dried cranberries...just make sure you mix the dried cranberries with some flour (maybe 1 tbs) so that they are coated with flour...this way, they will not tend to sink into the bottom of the cupcakes. btw, I made a mango version of this cake last week.Happy Baking :)

Hi Happy Home bakingthks for your advice. the reason why i want to make it into cupcakes is to cut down the baking time. juz to share, i baked a durian cake last friday, started at around 10pm and by the time, i waited for the cake to cool down so that i can store it properly, it was 2.30am! wow, mango cake sounds delicious and my kids love mango...will u be sharing the recipe or pics? look forward to that...btw, what is the difference in taste and texture between this yoghurt cake and the french yoghurt cake?tks muchoctopusmum

Great to read that your cake turns out well...indeed your cupcake version looks lovely :)I am not sure how to adjust the amount...maybe u can just add in the bananas using the same amount of ingredients, or u can stick to your 1 small cup yoghurt version, since it works well?

Hi Angelaphua, 2 tubs of yogurt (150g) is slightly less than 1 cup (250ml). I would advise that you measure it for the first time, so subsequently, if you find it troublesome, you can at least estimate the amount. In fact, I would advise measuring all ingredients as accurately as possible to ensure better results.

Hi Clarii, I am sorry as I'm not sure what went wrong? There are many possibilities affecting the outcome of a cake. It could be due to the measurements of the ingredients, it could be due to the mixing, and it is also likely due to the baking process...you may have underbake it or the oven was not preheated to the right temperature?

Hi, I am not sure what went wrong, but it seems like you may have over-baked the cake? Maybe your oven is on the 'hot' side? or the pan you used is those grease-proof type which tend to absorb heat faster? You may want to take a look at this site to see whether you can find the possible causes:1. Peaked, cracked tops: (http://www.baking911.com/cakes/problems.htm#Peaked, cracked tops)2. Dry cake:(http://www.baking911.com/cakes/problems.htm#Dry cake, tough crust)Hope this helps :)

The oven used is Elba Electric Oven Model : EO3585. I baked for only 45 mins. Pre-heated at 180 C for 10 mins. The round pan used is Stainless Steel type (I think it tend to absord heat faster).

I used flavour type of Yogurt, "Marigold" Strawberry, Peach, Mixed Fruits. Used 4 container of different flvaours (wrongly bought diff. flav.) yougurt which I measured equivalent to 2 cups.

The recipe I made it double (increased twice all ingredients) BUT the sugar I only use 200 GM instead of 360 GM. I always make my cake less sugar for people to eat. It's bcoz people are now health conscious and worry about too sweet.

Everyone think this cake is delicious. My mother think it is dry. I didn't taste it but noticed the look is dry.

Thank you so much for the websites. By the way, I noticed all your recipes displayed here are very well-presented.

Hi, thanks for providing the details on how you went about making the cake. It seems like you may have reduced the sugar too much. When used in baking, besides acting as a sweetener, sugar has other roles. The amount of sugar affects the volume of the cake and tenderness of the crumb. Sugar also helps to retain moisture in baking. You may want to read more about it here: (http://www.joyofbaking.com/sugar.html) Hope this helps and I am glad to hear that your kids enjoyed the muffins :D

Hi HHB,I have tried baking the cake last night. It's yummy...the cake is soft. Thanks for sharing the receipe...I got a few questions for you...1. Notice the cake do not rise very much like the chiffon cake- Is this correct...2. when just out from the oven the top layer is kind of "crispy" is it due to oven temperature. Also the cake no doubt soft, I find that it is quite dry. I use 170 dgrees instead and bake for 50 mins. Appreciate your kind advise and looking forward to hear from you.Possible to have your email address?Thanks :)

Hi, 1. The texture of this cake is different from chiffon. Chiffon cakes are very soft and airy. Whereas this type made by creaming method (almost like pound cake) will yield a dense crumb. 2. The crispy crust could be due to the oven temperature it could be too hot? I suspect you may have over bake the cake so it came out a bit dry. Do you use an oven theremometer to check the temperature?

great cakewas looking for a low fat orange cake since a long time n finally found this one n tried it a few days back and it turned out amazing .thnk u for this wonderful orange cake recipe.but please do u have any almond cake recipe because have been asked to bake one for a birthday but can't find any good recipes?

I love this cake. However, I dont think mine is a low-fat version since I just used whatever I have on hand. I wanted to finish whatever I have left in the fridge, so, I used 1/2 cup of light sour cream and 1/2 cup of thickened cream with some lemon juice in place of the low fat yogurt. And I reduced the sugar to 150g (100g caster sugar and 50g brown sugar). Another change I made was, I substituted the cake flour with plain flour and cornstarch.

hello happy homebaker :Di've been wanting to try this recipe for a while now and i bought a 1L tub of low fat plain yoghurt a couple weeks back but i kept procrastinating! finally got down to baking this today and it turned out really well :) shared with some friends and they liked it too. since i wanted to use up my yoghurt, i also baked the coffee walnut crumble yoghurt cake again today since it was such a hit the last time i made it. i really like your blog and it's inspiring me to bake lots more :) thanks for sharing all the recipes and pictures!

hi joyful, I am glad to hear that you have great success in baking this cake! Your lovely comment and encouragement keeps me going...it makes me feel that my effort to put up the instructions and sharing my baking experience is really worth it :)

Hello! I just made a loaf of this bread, using lemons (I didn't have an orange on hand >.<) and substituting oil for the butter, and it's such a lovely, fragrant cake! Thank you so much for the inspiration and beautiful pictures, as always :)

Hi dear, I just wanted to let you know that I baked this lovely cake for a charity bazaar on Sunday and it sold like HOT CAKES!!! LOL! Thank you so much for sharing this. My kids and I love cakes with a citrusy twist. I must share my Lemon Coconut Cake recipe with you! Best Regards, Val

Hi Sum Seng Gao, the batter shouldnt be over mixed. Stop mixing once the flour 'disappears'/fully incorporated into the batter. The sides is burnt could be due to your oven temperature, or the type of baking pan u used, did u used those black, non stick pan? it tends to absorb more heat and may coz the sides to get burnt before the centre is cooked. The texture shouldn't be kueh like, it's closer to a pound cake/butter cake.

Hi Dear,I baked this cake today (after making the Mango Yogurt Pudding), my texture was soft but dry; guess I could hv over mixed the flour. As I add in the flour, I used a spatula to fold in before I beat with the electric mixer to prevent the flour flying all over the place. Will it cause over mixed?And I used a non-stick pan, baked at 40mins, as a result, my cake burnt at all sides. I had to scaped and trimmed off the sides like those burnt bread.. :(. Despite this, the cake still taste good.....

Hi Fi Fi, I don't think it is the problem of over mixing. I suspect your oven temp is too high. Do you use an oven thermometer? if not I recommend that you get an oven thermometer to make sure the temp is accurate. and since you use a non-stick pan, it absorbs heat faster, causing the sides to burnt before the centre is cooked. You may want to lower the temp or shorten the baking time.

Hi, Sorry to hear that this recipe didn't work for you. I used 1 cup which is 240ml of yoghurt. As for the mixing in Step 6, each time after adding the flour/yoghurt mix until the flour/yoghurt just incorporated into the batter. It should take about 30seconds each time. Maybe your cake was under baked as the centre was not cooked...it could be due to the oven temperature or the oven was not preheated to the right temperature before you put in the cake.

Wat shld the right temp be for preheat? 180?That's wat I did for step 6. Actually the cake tasted good just the texture is not like sponge cake. The cake is cooked just that the texture is not right. :(

Hi, yes, preheat it to 180degC. Every oven works differently, so u need to find out how your oven works. For most oven, it will take about 15 to 20mins to preheat. Best is to use an oven thermometer to check, and do not open the oven door unnecessary during baking as the temperature will drop once u open it and will take another few mins to return back to the required temperature. This cake should not be dense as kueh, it should be lighter than pound cake but not as light and airy as sponge cake.

Hi HHBI supposed I can be called your "secret admirer"! :) tried a couple of your bakes and they were great! This time, I used this recipe and replace the orange with yuzu. Yuzu zest, and yuzu juice (fruit tree), and reduced sugar to 160gm. And the result is amazing! Thank you!